Open AccessCRYSTALLIZATION OF DNA FROM DILUTE SOLUTION
Author(s) -
G. Giani,
F. J. Padden,
H. D. Keith
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.62.3.964
Subject(s) - crystallization , crystallography , dna , folding (dsp implementation) , mother liquor , sodium , hexagonal crystal system , denaturation (fissile materials) , helix (gastropod) , diffraction , chemistry , materials science , biophysics , chemical engineering , biochemistry , nuclear chemistry , organic chemistry , biology , ecology , physics , optics , snail , electrical engineering , engineering
Hexagonal platelet crystals about 1 μ across and about 150 Å thick have been precipitated by the addition of ethanol to solutions of ultrasonically degraded, salmon sperm DNA in sodium cacodylate buffer. X-ray powder diffraction patterns from concentrated slurries of these crystals in mother liquor show intense rings at 23.9 Å and at about 3.4 Å; the former arise from lateral packing and the latter from an axial periodicity of the DNA helix. Evidence is presented to indicate that native DNA helices crystallize by chain folding and that no irreversible denaturation results from the crystallization process.